Overview: In this book you will find colorful and healthy dishes that require simple ingredients. Creating meals that combine a variety of color, texture, flavors, and using wholesome ingredients will give you joy in the tasting. The dishes included in this book range from hot and spicy to delicate flavors using fish and vegetables. One of the most important features of Chinese cooking is texture. Vegetables should remain crisp and rice and noodles should be treated like pasta and retain their bite after cooking. Ingredients such as bean curd are used for texture, even if they have little flavor in themselves. Bamboo Shoots and Chestnuts, both common ingredients in these recipes, are used only for texture. Most of the recipes in this book use simple ingredients available in most supermarkets. But more traditional options have been suggested where appropriate. It is worth making a trip to a Chinese grocery store for high-quality soy sauce and some of the other more obscure ingredients, but the recipes will all work very well and be equally delicious without them. The recipes in this book are great for entertaining; we love to make a buffet of Chinese dishes for family and friends. I really hope you enjoy this broad collection of Soups and Starters, Main Courses, Vegetables, and Rice & Noodles.